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Foreign policy assignment

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Foreign Policy Assignment<br />What is Foreign Policy? <br />It is a set of goals/interests that a country defines for itself, and which influence how that country interacts with other members of the international community. <br />Every country has specific set of national interests that shape the behavior of this country in the international system and its interactions with other states. <br />Foreign Policy – usually- exists in multiple forms; declared and undeclared goals/interests. <br />What Influences Foreign Policy?<br />Systemic Level of Analysis (the global circumstances that may exist; which shape the behavior of nation states, ex. the global persistence on trade liberalization, global condemnation of international terrorism). <br />Domestic Level of Analysis: determinants that exist within the country itself (type of governance, size of military, economic structure and economic strength, the presence of non-state actors), NGO (scope of activities, financial constraints, relative influence on States) or Corporation (scope, nature and profitability of operations). <br />Individual Level of Analysis: believes that the decision making process is primarily concentrated within the hands of leaders (and public figures); the decision makers. Analysis of the sort tends to focus studies of their physiological behavior.<br />The preparation of a foreign policy is divided into several steps.<br />Step 1: Delegation Profile<br />General Background:<br />History:<br />Date of independence/state establishment<br />Former colonies/ relationship with colonial powers<br />Internal struggles / civil wars<br />Recent conflicts / wars / crises<br />Geographic Attributes -> GEOPOLITICS:<br />Location<br />Natural resources<br />Neighboring countries<br />Social Attributes:<br />Population size<br />Demographic composition<br />Religions<br />Languages<br />Ethnicities<br />Literacy<br />Wealth distribution<br />Host/Source of refugees<br />Health and well-being indicators; including malnourishment,<br /> disease prevalence rates, hospital capacity <br />Population size<br />Demographic composition<br />Religions<br />Languages<br />Ethnicities<br />Literacy<br />Host/Source of refugees<br />Political:<br />Ruling regime (head of state, political party, ethnic/religious belonging)<br />Internal stability<br />Electoral system<br />Opposition groups<br />Interest groups and NGO activities<br />Armed militia/terrorist groups<br />Military:<br />Army size, strength and equipment ->Military budget<br />Military defense pacts<br />Previous military interventions<br />Involvements in international disputes/crises<br />Economic Profile:<br />Economy:<br />Currency<br />GDP<br />Unemployment rate<br />Poverty and Inequality rate<br />Major industries and sectoral contributions<br />Main exports (type and quantity)<br />Main imports; dependence ratios<br />Agricultural performance and commodities<br />Trading partners<br />Foreign aid (sources of foreign aid)<br />International Relations:<br />Sphere of influence: how influential is your country in the global <br />political and economic arena?<br />Relations with regional and international powers <br />Significant International and Regional bilateral relations/treaties/pacts/agreements<br />Membership in international or regional organizations <br />(political, economic, social, military etc)<br />Role within UN (financial contribution, sponsorship of programs/resolutions)<br />Fundraising role in international organizations, such as the IMF and World Bank <br />This information can easily be obtained through various online sources. <br />These include:<br />The CIA Factbook: <br />Provides a good starting point for getting a “feel” of your delegation. Has both textual and statistical briefing of countries around the world.<br />https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ <br />Nationmaster:<br />Has plenty of useful indicators and rankings to offer. Check it out for country-specific statistics ranging from foreign aid as percentage of GDP to share of world trade in radio broadcast receivers. <br />http://www.nationmaster.com/<br />IMPORTANT: <br />Please DO NOT rely on Wikipedia as your only source of background information for your delegation. It should only serve as a starting point. The websites mentioned above provide far more timely and accurate data for research purposes<br />You do not need to memorize the information making up your delegation profile. Just read it carefully to have a better feel of your country’s agenda, and always keep a copy with you in the conference. Your profile information will be very useful in some conference situations<br />The delegation profile is not all of the foreign policy!!!!!<br />Relying solely on the delegation profile will mean that you will not be able to engage in meaningful debate in the conference<br />Step 2: In-Depth Position Analysis<br />Here you use the background information obtained through your delegation profile to determine your country’s position regarding the topic(s). <br />